The study, released Thursday, shows that teens don’t always do such a good job of keeping text-message lingo out of their schoolwork.

According to the study, 25 percent of the teens surveyed say they’ve turned in school assignments peppered with the ever-popular emoticons that often rear their sunny, yellow heads in instant messenger conversations online.

Researchers also found 38 percent of students have used text shortcuts in class assignments. (Such as “LOL” for “laughing out loud.”)

And 50 percent of students say they use “informal writing styles” that sometime lack proper punctuation and capitalization.

But on the other hand, the study found that 93 percent of teens write “for their own pleasure,” embracing written communication as a good way to keep in touch with friends.

Sterling said his teenage son once asked what the capital letter adds to a sentence and what a period signifies. Sterling said he didn’t have an answer.

When I was in high school, I had a teacher who said it’s never proper to use the word “you” when writing. And here I am a decade later, dropping “yous” like rose petals at a wedding, starting sentences with “ands” and — wait — did I start this blog with “OMG?”

Please forgive me, Mrs. Wescott.

What do you think of the study? Are we treating the English language too informally?